Pharmacy type
Community
Pharmacy context
COVID-19
Relevant standards
- 4.2 - Pharmacy services are managed and delivered safely and effectively
Why this is notable practice
The pharmacy is working with the local surgery to move as many patients as possible onto electronic repeat prescriptions.
How the pharmacy did this
The pharmacy had seen an increase in the number of prescriptions it was dispensing because of COVID-19. And it wanted to manage them in a more effective way. After a discussion between the pharmacy and the surgery, the surgery issued four batch prescriptions of 28-day repeat prescriptions through the NHS Electronic Prescription Service (EPS) for people on stable medication regimens. This meant the pharmacy could download them and dispense them in an orderly fashion each month for the next four months. This meant the pharmacy was now able to take back management of some of its workload. And it allowed it to manage stock more effectively by reducing the number of owings.
What difference this made to patients
The new system reduces pressure on both the pharmacy team and on surgery staff. And people have the assurance the pharmacy has their prescription in good time to dispense their medicine when it is due.
Highlighted standards
We have identified the standards most likely and least likely to be met in inspections, and highlighted examples of notable practice for each of these standards; to help everyone learn from others and to support continuous improvement: